Igniting device.



m Mig@ J.v B. GOULD'. IGNITING DEVICE. Y APE'LIOATION FILLED MAY 14, 1910.

1,021,363. y rammed Mar. l1.912.

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1 'UNTTED sTaTns rrrrmrrI oratori.

JOSEPH B. GOULD, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, ASSIGNOR T0 MATCHLESS LIGHTER COMPANY, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS, A CORPORATION OF MASSACHUSETTS.

-IGNITIN Gr DEVICE.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, Josurn: B. Gonne, of Boston, in the county of Suffolk and State of Massachusetts, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in- Igniting. Devices, of which the following is a. specification.

This invention relates to devices capable of mechanically producing a shower of sparks by which easily inflammable substances may be ignited, thus providing an ever ready and safe device for the purpose, by the use of which the necessity for using matches may be avoided, and which also is capable ofbcing used for igniting gas jets such as those beneath the oven of a gas stove which cannot be so easily reached by a rhatoh held in the hand.

My object is to produce a simple, inexpensive and easily handled device ot' thc'general character and adapted for the .purpose above-noted, which does not require the use of a wick or oil, and may be operated by a single hand, and which also hasn-the ad vantage of long life without requiring more than very infrequent renewal ol. any of its parts. f

The invention finds its most convenient and practical embodiment in a device having the form and construction substantially as shown in the accompanying drawings, al-

though I desire to state at this point that said drawings and the description 'thereof hereinafter appended are provided tor the purpose of illustrating my invention, and

not lof limiting it to any particular details ofconst-ruction, for I reserve the right y to embody the principles 'of my inventiony 1n any other forms than that here shown which ma atan'ytime seem desirable.

v 4igure A4l represents a perspective view olir the igniting device. Fig. 2 is a plan view.

Fig. 3 is a detail sectional view on the linc SW3 lof Fig. 2. Fig. t is adetail perspec-y tive View of the spark-preducing member and its holder.

The same reference characters indica te the same .parts in'all lthe figures.

ment or member c having a rictional rub- Speecation of Letters Patent.

Patented Mar. 26, 1912.

Application led May 14, 1910. Serial No. 561,301.

arms-that during,r such movement they rotate over cach other.

The spark-producing member (Z is of any suitable material havinof such characteristics that when moved rapidly across a sul'liciently roughened hard surface, it will produce a se.

ries of sparks. The material which I l'ind preferable for my purpose is an'alloy of ccrium and iron, although it is conceivable that other alloys or materials may be uscd'for the purpose. A small block or piece of this material is mounted in a holder c ofsuch form and construction that it may be easily removed from and placed on the arm I), in order that thc spark-producing material may be renewed when it becomes worn away. This holder is conveniently a clip 'havin a tubular shank portion e, forming- 'a soc tot in which the block l is held, and flanges cg adapted' to embrace the side edges ot' the arm I). The latter arm has a Aperforation f over the roughencd rubbing member c and the clip or holder c is so located that the block rZ lies under this ierforation, whereby the block may be pushc outward from time to time through the holder as it lbecomes more or less worn away. Y

The rubbing member o is conveniently a short strip ot' hardened steel or equivalent lmaterial having a rtmghened or serrated surface on the side toward the block d.

This strip is x'nounted upon the arm so as to extend approximately at right angles thereto, or in the direction of movement of the arms together and a aart.

l As a practical detail of construction l prefer to make the arms a and b ol a single strip o't' spring material such as steel, said strip being bent so that the arms lie approximately parallel to each other and are connected together at one end by a bowed portionngj. By reason of this construction f the lresiliency of the material tends to hold l.The device consists of'I two members jor arms .a and b, one of ywhich carries -an -ele- :the armsapart1 but they um be grasped by the fingers and thumb of one hand and brought together by a squeezing action. By alternately squeezingl and releasing the arms for lighting gas,- as the sparks produced areA they may be caused to move together and apart as rapidly as desired, and the spark producing piece is thus rubbed back and forth over the rubbing member. v

I have devised a very simple, and at the saine time satisfactory and secure mode of attaching the rubbing -member, which is illustrated in the drawings. For this purposethe arm a is made considerably longer than the arm b and its end portion is bent over toward the arm b, while its extreme end is still further bent into "approximate parallelism with the main body of the arm. 'Ihus between the main portion of the' arm L am1 its extreme end is a space in which the rubbing strip c is contained, such strip being secured at its ends to the separated parallel portions of the arm.

Any desired means or mode of attaching the rubbing strip may be employed, but perhaps the simplest and most satisfactory is that here illustrated, which consists in indenting the material of the arm at the points r'where the ends of the rubbingv strip are located and slipping the ends of 'the strip into such indentations. The resiliency of the material from which lthe device is made causes the end portion a of the arm to press towhenthe arms are pressed together, so that' as the block moves toward the main portion of the arm ce it rides up on the rubbing strip, and the pressure employed in so moving it causes it to bear heavily on the rough. surface of the strip, thereby pressure to cause suflicient friction to produce a copious shower of sparks'is easily applied.v This relation of the rubbing strip' also causes the end portion a of the arm to serve as a guard preventing too great separation of the arms.

The point of attachment between the strip c and end a is near one edge ofthe latter, whereby the greater part of the width of the end a rises above the rubbing surface of the strip and the arm b in moving outwarda by reason of itsl resiliency encounters the end a and is arrested thereby.

Where, as in the vform shown, the spring material of which the igniter is made is aflattened strip, ythe arm b is twisted at an intermediate point as so that its wider dimension will extend approximately parallel to the rubbing member c, thus making more secure the attachment of theholder e.

The igniting device made as hereinbefore described, or with an equivalent construction, is exceedingly and especially useful sufficiently `intense and numerous to eifect 'the desired purpose. Moreover, as the igniter is long and slender, it may be' used in igniting gas jets in such inaccessible positions that matches cannot be conveniently used, as for instance the jets for heating ovens in the ordinary gas stoves etc. The device moreover is practically Yindestructible and always ready for use, for the wear on the block d is relatively so slight that it has a long life. Moreover the device has the advantage over the ordinary friction match, in that it is not aifected by dampness.

I claim,-

1. An igniting device comprising a pair of arms movable relatifaely together and apart, a piece of sparlr-producing material carried by one of said arms, and a rubbing member carried by the other in such position that the spark-producing member is caused to travel over its surface in contact therewith during the relative movement of ,the arms, said rubbing member being inclined to the direction of application of the pressure employed in lmoving the arms, whereby the members are crowded together in close frictional contact.

2. An igniting device comprising arms mounted so as to be movable together and apart, one of said arms being bent over and doubled back at its end, a rubbing strip contained between the body of said arm and the bent over end thereof, and a spark-producing member carried by the other arm in such position as to be movable therewith over and in Contact with the surface of said, rubbing strip.

3. An ignlter, com rising a flexible spring frame in the form o a handholdwand having two arms, one of said arms being movable with relation to the`other, an abrading member carried by the extremity of one of said 'arms and a spark-producing friction `member carried at the extremity of the otherarm, said members being held in contact with each other by the spring of said frame in such manner that when one arm of said frame is moved with'respect'to the other, thesaid members are brought into operative frictional engagement.f

et. A n igniter comprising a flexible spring frame made of flattened strip doubled to from two resilientiy connected arms movable together and apart, an abrader extending from one of the arms in the direction of such relative movement, the other arm being of armsl arranged to swing laterally toward.'-

and from eachother, one of said arms ing longer than the other and being bent at its outer-end towardand partlyl aroundi330,"

the other, to form a stop limiting the sep- In testimony whereof I have 'affixed my amtion of the arms, the first named arm sig'iat-ure, in presence of two wltnesses. havin an abrasive surfa'ce exten ing in 1 the drecton 4of swinging motion, and a- JObEPH B GOULD' quantity of pyrophoric material lsecured on the other arm arranged to bear on the abra- Witnesses:

WILLIAM T.'A'rwoon, P. PEzzETTI.

sive surface.

opies of this patent may be obtained for nve cents each, by addressing the "Commissioner o! Patents,

wasmngtomn. c." 

